The government will now regulate what actors wear in films. They must wear transparent latex.
You might have thought that the First Amendment allows people the freedom of expression to get naked and copulate on camera. If so, you would be in agreement with the Supreme Court. And the ACLU. The community standards of prudes and Baptists can’t stand in the way of this all-important right.
Of course, if one of the actors were to criticize a politician in between grunts and moans, that speech could be regulated according to McCain-Feingold, and Congress is currently busy preparing new regulations of political speech to avoid anyone interfering with their re-election. The grunts and moans and close-ups of genitalia will remain fully protectable by the highest principles of enlightened democracy. Political speech will be banned.
If you want to make your porn film widely available to the public, there are some limitations. Naturally, Congress won’t allow you to include certain political utterances at certain times; that would be disrespectful, or unfair, or likely to skew an election.
And you shouldn’t distribute porn to children. Of course, attempts to regulate distribution in ways that might shield children from such films have been struck down by the Supreme Court. Why? Well, because adults have an all-important right to watch each other copulate on film. (It’s in the First Amendment, you know.)
Supreme Court to parents: “Get yourself an internet filter.” Ashcroft v. ACLU, 542 U.S. 656 (2004). Congress to citizens: “Shut up.”
But the First Amendment right to copulate for the camera has finally found a limit. It’s not based on community standards. No, it’s worker safety:
State regulators are expected to vote Thursday on a petition asking them to require porn industry performers to use condoms and to take other safety measures. The six-member California Division of Occupational Safety and Health standards board appears likely to create an advisory committee to report back on whether the law should be changed and how it could be accomplished.
The board, appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has up to six months to act on a Dec. 17, 2009 petition filed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation that seeks to change state law to require safe-sex protections for adult-film workers, including mandatory condom use and more stringent safety training and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
That’s right. Your children be damned, but these porn stars are being exploited.
Forget about the First Amendment and the artistic expression inherent in going without condoms. Forget about the government supposedly having nothing to say about sex between consenting adults. We’re talking safety here.
It also sends a bad message to the public to see people enjoying unprotected sex. And since children are much more adept at working internet filters than their parents, they might just learn some valuable lessons, too.
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